14:18 15.06.2018

OSCE SMM observes almost 850,000 ceasefire breaches in Donbas in past 3 years

1 min read
OSCE SMM observes almost 850,000 ceasefire breaches in Donbas in past 3 years

The OSCE Special Monitoring Mission to Ukraine has observed 846,649 ceasefire breaches in Donbas since September 2015, OSCE SMM Principal Deputy Chief Monitor Alexander Hug said at a press briefing on Friday.

The violence eastern Ukraine had been suffering from over the past four years continued last week, and the observers saw about 9,000 ceasefire violations, Hug said.

A total of 846,649 ceasefire violations have been recorded since the monitoring mission's deployment in September 2015; as many as 846,000 bullets, mortar shells and artillery munitions have been fired during this period, and many of them have hit residential areas or nearby territories, Hug said. Many rounds were fired by weapons subject to withdrawal consistent with the Minsk Agreements.

The conflicting sides have failed to fulfill the agreements on the disengagement of forces and hardware and the mine action, Hug said.

On June 5, an OSCE drone detected three 122mm howitzers near Sofiyivka, in an area uncontrolled by Kyiv only six kilometers from the contact line, where no such weapons should be present, Hug said. An infantry combat vehicle hiding behind trees in a Kyiv-held territory where no forces or weapons should be stationed was detected on June 7, he said.

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